The things we can do
these days:
A German man has been able to eat his first proper meal in nine years after surgeons rebuilt his face using a pioneering jaw-bone graft.
The 56-year-old man - who tucked into bread and sausages - had only been able to eat soft food and soup since part of his jaw-bone was removed due to cancer.
University of Kiel researchers "grew" a replacement jaw-bone in a muscle in the patient's back and grafted it in place.
According to the story, this is the first time the procedure has been done on a human. So how'd they do it?
After taking a 3D computer tomography (CT) scan of the patient's head, they used computer aided design to recreate the missing portion of the jaw-bone (mandible).
The design was used to construct a teflon model, which was then covered with a titanium cage.
The teflon was then removed, and the cage filled with bone mineral blocks, coated with bone marrow and a protein which accelerates bone growth.
The transplant was then implanted into the latissimus dorsai muscle, below the right shoulder blade.
Doctors monitored its development, and CT scans showed new bone was forming.
After seven weeks of growth, the graft was removed, along with a flap of muscle containing blood vessels.
It was then attached to the stumps of the patient's original lower jaw.
The transplant enabled the patient to chew again, and within four weeks he was able to eat solid foods.
The thought of having a jawbone growing out of my side gives me the creeps, frankly. But if I hadn't been able to eat normally for nine years, I'd be desperate enough to do this too.
The guy still doesn't have actual teeth, but doctors hope they can implant some next year.
Kudos to science for giving him a new lease on life.